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Scorpion Gestation

By Lauren Corona

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Although scorpions are arachnids, like spiders and mites, they're viviparous, which means they give birth to live young, something that's relatively uncommon outside the mammal world. More than 1,500 scorpion species exist across the globe, with slightly varying gestation periods.

Reproduction and Gestation

In most scorpion species, males initiate mating, performing a mating dance that can last as briefly as five minutes or as long as two days. After completing the ritual, a male deposits a sperm packet that the receptive female takes into their genital operculum, where the eggs will be fertilized. Depending on the species, the gestation period can last between three and 18 months. During gestation, the embryos develop in the ovariuterus of the female. Embryos normally number between 24 and 35, but females can carry as few as one or as many as 105. After the live young are born, they ride around on their mothers' backs until after their first molt, which can be up to two week.